Deflection roller installation

ABSTRACT

A deflection roller installation fastening a deflection roller for a rope used for driving a motor vehicle window pane. Deflection rollers are rotatably mounted on a window-lifting rail used for guiding the pane. The window-lifting rail is provided with an outward formation for receiving the deflection rollers. A module support couples the window-lifting rail to a portion of a vehicle door, the module support including a peg engaging the outward formation.

The present invention relates to a deflection roller installationaccording to the preamble of claim 1.

Deflection roller installations for fastening a deflection roller for acable for the drive of a motor vehicle windowpane, in particular alateral windowpane of a motor vehicle arranged between the A andB-column. According to the state of the art the deflection rollers areusually attached on a window-lifting rail. This window-lifting rail onthe one hand serves for guiding the windowpane, e.g. chiefly in theperpendicular direction. On the other hand the window-lifting rail overa large area also supports the windowpane, by which means its protectivefunction for the windowpane is accomplished. The deflection rollers aredesigned for guiding a cable which effects the lifting and lowering ofthe windowpane.

The window-lifting rails according to the state of the art are of e.g. 3mm thick sheet metal. The thickness of the sheet metal is dictated by acertain minimum thickness for ensuring the guiding and protectivefunction of the cantilever window-lifting rail.

The fastening of the deflection roller on the window-lifting railaccording to the state of the art is designed as a rivet which serves asan arbor and furthermore serves as an axial fastening of the deflectionroller.

Proceeding from this state of the art it is the object of the presentinvention to provide a deflection roller installation which reduces thematerial application and thus the complexity of the deflection rollerinstallation, and on the other hand permits a secure and permanentretention of the deflection roller.

This object is achieved by a deflection roller installation according toclaim 1.

By way of the fact that the window-lifting rail has an outward formationfor mounting the deflection roller, now the deflection roller may bemounted directly on this outward formation. It is no longer necessaryfor separate arbor components, such as e.g. rivets etc. to be providedfor mounting the deflection roller. This is due to the fact thatsurprisingly, it has been shown that the window-lifting rails which inearlier years were relatively thick may also be manufactured of thinneror stronger sheet metals (metal plate) so that in a simple manner onemay realise an integration of an outward formation for mounting thedeflection roller.

Advantages of this design are the reduced complexity as well as areduction of weight and costs on manufacture, and also a reduction ofthe error expense on assembly. Furthermore, it is relatively simple withan injection (moulding) procedure or a push-through procedure formanufacturing the outward formation to achieve a large diameter of theoutward formation and thus of the arbor of the deflection roller. By wayof this there results an even further improved stability of thedeflection roller with respect to the bending moments which engage here.

Advantageous further designs of the present invention are specified inthe dependent claims

One advantageous embodiment envisages the outward formation to be apush-through of the window-lifting rail. For this the window-liftingrail is preferably manufactured of a 0.9 to 1.5 mm thick sheet metal,preferably of steel or aluminium. It is thus possible in a very simplemanner to carry out the outward formation in a deep-drawing method etc.in single step or also multi-step method. This may be effected togetherwith the other shaping procedures of the window-lifting rail.Alternatively it is of course also possible to manufacture thewindow-lifting rail or the outward formation with an injection mouldingmethod.

At the same time it is moreover favourable to carry out the outwardformation in the region of the mounting in an essentially circularlycylindrical manner in order thus to mount a deflection roller e.g. ofPOM on this.

It is particularly advantageous for the outward formation on theend-face distant to the remaining window-lifting rail to comprise anopening. This with, the manufacture of the outward formation in adeep-drawing method may be effected by way of drilling an opening afterthe deep-drawing. In this manner it is also possible for the outwardformation on the end-face, thus in the region of the opening, tocomprise a widening for engaging behind and axially fixing thedeflection roller. This may e.g. by effected by a beading which thusaxially fixes one side of the deflection roller. It is possible on theother side of the deflection roller to provide a peripheral web,preferably in the outer radius region of the deflection roller, said webaxially supporting the deflection roller on the other side (see e.g.FIG. 2) so that as a whole a defined mounting of the deflection rolleris given.

A further advantageous embodiment envisages the window-lifting rail tobe fastened on the module support which e.g. is manufactured of plasticand is fastened on a door panel of a vehicle door or on a door frame ofa vehicle door. At the same time it has been shown to be advantageousfor a peg which centres or fixes the window-lifting rail with respect tothe module support to engage into the recess with a positive fit. Thusthe peg provided in the module support achieves the exact positioning ofthe deflection roller with respect to the module support. The peg isthus the “theoretical zero point”, also for the roller. By way of thisthere is one element less in the tolerance chain. Furthermore such anarrangement is advantageous with regard to the forces acting on thedeflection roller which may effect a bending or torsion of thewindow-lifting rail. This lies in the fact that the resulting force ofthe cable forces do not act with a lever [arm] with regard to thefastening point of the window-lifting rail, but directly on thisfastening point (see both of FIGS. 4 a and 4 b).

It is furthermore possible for the peg of the module support (or e.g. apeg fastened on the door inner panel to also be used for axially fixingthe window-lifting rail or the deflection roller (for this e.g. circlipsare to be attached at the free end of the peg.

Further advantageous further designs of the present invention arespecified in the remaining dependent claims.

The present invention is now explained by way of several Figures. Thereare shown in:

FIG. 1 the schematic construction of a vehicle door in cross section;

FIG. 2 the first embodiment of a deflection roller installationaccording to the invention;

FIG. 3 a second embodiment of a deflection roller installation accordingto the invention;

FIGS. 4 a and 4 b a schematic representation of the force conditions onvarious embodiments of a deflection roller installation.

FIG. 1 shows the cross section of a vehicle door 7. This comprises anouter panel 11 to which an inner panel 6 is attached. A door module 8 isfastened on this inner plate. This door module is preferablymanufactured of plastic and serves e.g. for the fastening of elementssuch as load speakers, locking elements etc. An interior trim which isnot illustrated here is attached on that side of the door module 8 whichis distant to the outer plate 11.

Furthermore a window-lifting rail 4 is attached on the door module 8.This window-lifting rail 4 serves primarily for guiding a windowpane 3.The drive of the windowpane 3 may be effected manually or electrically.The transmission of the drive of the windowpane 3 is effected e.g. via acable drive which here is not shown. A cable for the drive of thewindowpane 3 is led around a deflection roller 2 which is rotatablymounted on the window-lifting rail 4.

The invention is now explained in more detail according to this generalarrangement.

FIG. 2 shows a cut-out of a window-lifting rail 4. This window-liftingrail 4 is formed from steel sheet which may have a thickness between 0.9and 1.5 mm. It is however also possible to provide such window-liftingrails of aluminium.

The window-lifting rail 4 comprises an outward formation 5 which ismanufactured in a deep-drawing method. This outward formation 5 in itsmiddle region has an essentially circularly cylindrical cross section. Adeflection roller 2 is rotatably mounted on this circularly cylindricalsection. This deflection roller is manufactured as one piece from POM(polyoxymethylane). The outward formation 5 at its end face 5 a which isdistant from the remaining window-lifting rail has an opening 5 b. Aflanging 5 c is provided in the region of this opening and this flangingaxially fixes the deflection roller 2. The deflection roller in theaxial direction on the other side of this, in the region of its outerperiphery comprises a peripheral projection 12 which axially grazes thewindow-lifting rail 4.

Thus here it is the case of a deflection roller installation 1 forfastening a deflection roller 2 for a cable 10 which is not shown here(see FIGS. 4 a and 4 b). The deflection roller 2 is attached to thewindow-lifting rail 4 for guiding the windowpane 3 (see FIG. 1). Thewindow-lifting rail 4 comprises the outward formation 5 for mounting thedeflection roller 2.

In the following a further embodiment of the deflection roller accordingto the invention is show by way of FIG. 3. This differs only by way ofan additional peg arrangement for fixing the outward formation. Inasmuchas nothing is expressed to the contrary, all those explanations madeabove with regard to FIGS. 1 and 2 also apply to this embodiment.

FIG. 3 shows a module support 8′ with a peg 9′ protruding in thedirection of the window-lifting rail 4′. The module support 8′ is shownin its general arrangement in FIG. 1.

The window-lifting rail 4′ with recess 5 as well as deflection roller 2corresponds completely to the arrangement of FIG. 2, with the exceptionthat the fixation/centring of the window-lifting rail 4′ is effected ina different manner to that of the window-lifting rail 4 (with regard tothis see both FIGS. 4 a and 4 b). Otherwise the recess 5, the opening 5b, the widening 5 c etc. are exactly as in FIG. 2.

With the deflection roller installation 1′ of FIG. 3 howeveradditionally a peg 9′ of the module support 8′ is provided which engagesinto the outward formation 5 in a complementary manner. By way of this,on the one hand a fastening of the window-lifting rail 4′ is achievedand furthermore a fixing of the deflection roller 2 with respect to themodule support is achieved. The fixing of the location of the deflectionroller 2 with respect to the module support 8′ has the advantage that byway of this the tolerance chain may be kept short.

It is also possible to provide an axial ring which is not shown here inthe drawing, which abuts on the widening 5 c and thus fixes thewindow-lifting rail 4′ on the module support 8′.

FIGS. 4 a and 4 b show a schematic representation of the forceconditions of the deflection installation 1 or 1′ according to theinvention.

The deflection roller 1 is shown in FIG. 4 a. Here the window-liftingrail 4 fixes the deflection roller 2 about which a cable 10 is wound.The window-lifting rail 4 is fastened via a peg 9 onto a module supportwhich is not illustrated here. The cable forces F1 and F2 engage on thedeflection roller 2 and in the region of the arbor of the deflectionroller (thus of an outward formation of the window-lifting rail 4) areintroduced into the window-lifting rail. The resulting force F_(R) (1,2) thus engages with a lever [arm] on the peg 9. A bending moment isexerted onto the window-lifting rail by way of this, so that this railmay be slightly distorted.

FIG. 4 b shows a schematic illustration of the forces for a deflectioninstallation 1′. Here as is shown in FIG. 3, an outward formation whichforms the bearing arbor of the deflection roller 2 is attached with apositive fit on a peg 9′ of a module support which is not shown here.The resulting force of the forces F1 and F2, i.e. the force F_(R) (1, 2)again engages at the centre of the deflection roller 2. Since here thepeg 9′ which is part of the module support is located here, the forceF_(R) (1, 2) is now introduced directly into the module support. Anadditional bending moment as in FIG. 4 a which could deform thewindow-lifting rail and thus could compromise the protective and guidefunction of the window-lifting rail does not occur.

Of course it would also be possible to attach the outward formation onwhich the deflection roller 2 is mounted on a peg, which e.g. is a partof the door inner panel or of the door frame (for example with doorswhich have no module support).

The present invention has great advantages in large-scale manufacture.To the first extent this is given by the relatively simple manner ofmanufacturing which makes do with only very few components. Thus it ispossible in a simple manner on manufacture of the window-lifting railfor the outward formation (e.g. “in one step” with the rest of thewindow-lifting rail) to be manufactured with a deep-drawing method andafter placing the deflection roller onto the outward formation, for awidening of the outward formation to be effected for engaging behind andaxially fixing the deflection rollers. It is therefore not absolutelynecessary to provide an additional component for axially fixing thedeflection roller. Of course it is however also possible to ensure theaxial fixation instead e.g. by way of a flanging, by way of placing on afastening element for axially fixing the deflection roller.

A further significant advantage of the invention lies in the fact thatthe outward formation manufactured e.g. by way of deep-drawingsimultaneously forms the accommodation for a peg of a module support.This peg may be integrally manufactured with the module support, such asintegrally manufactured in an injection moulding method as a protrudingpeg. Here with regard to tolerances, it is also possible to fix thearbor of the deflection roller with respect to the door module due tothe omission of a separate arbor which could produce additionaltolerance fluctuations. Thus the tolerance chain is shortened and thequality with regard to tolerance fluctuations is improved alone onaccount if the design

In a further embodiment it may be possible, such as with door moduleswhich practical integrally contain the window-lifting rail, tomanufacture the outward formation also at the same time as an integralpart of the module support such as with the injection moulding method.

In any case the deflection roller installation according to the presentinvention is characterised by a weight saving which is primarilyachieved due to the fact that no additional parts are necessary formounting or fixation.

1.-13. (canceled)
 14. A deflection roller installation for fastening adeflection roller for a cable of a drive mechanism of a motor vehiclewindowpane, comprising a window-lifting rail for guiding the windowpane,the rail having an outward formation for receiving the deflectionroller, and a module support coupled to the window-lifting rail andcoupled to a portion of a vehicle door, the module support including apeg engaging the outward formation.
 15. A deflection roller installationaccording to claim 14, wherein the outward formation comprises apush-through of the window-lifting rail.
 16. A deflection rollerinstallation according to claim 14, wherein a region of the outwardformation receiving the deflection roller consists essentially of acircularly cylindrical formation.
 17. A deflection roller installationaccording to claim 14 wherein an end-face of the outward formationdistant from the window-lifting rail comprises an opening.
 18. Adeflection roller installation according to claim 17, wherein theend-face of the outward formation distant from the window-lifting railcomprises a widening for engaging behind and axially fixing thedeflection roller.
 19. A deflection roller installation according toclaim 14, further comprising a fastening element axially fixing theoutward formation on the peg.
 20. A deflection roller installationaccording to claim 14, wherein the window-lifting rail consistsessentially of 0.9-1.5 mm thick sheet metal.
 21. A deflection rollerinstallation according to claim 20, wherein the window-lifting rail (4)is composed essentially of steel or aluminium.
 22. A deflection rollerinstallation according to claim 21, wherein the deflection roller iscomposed essentially of POM.
 23. A method for manufacturing a deflectionroller installation comprising the steps of: providing a window-liftingrail, forming an outward formation to receive the deflection rollerusing a deep-drawing method, placing the deflection roller onto theoutward formation, and widening the outward formation to engage behindthe deflection roller for axially fixing the deflection roller to thewindow-lifting rail.
 24. A method according to claim 23, wherein thewidening of the outward formation is effected by flanging for axiallyfixing the deflection roller.
 25. A method according to claim 23,wherein the widening of the outward formation is effected by placing ona fastening element for axially fixing the deflection roller.